IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 298 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding steps that 

Congress should take to restore democracy and change the way we 

do politics in the United States by reducing the influence of money 

and corporations and promoting the participation of the people in politics 

and government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2015 

Mr. NOLAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on 

Rules and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding steps that Congress should take to restore democracy 

and change the way we do politics in the United States 

by reducing the influence of money and corporations 

and promoting the participation of the people in politics 

and government. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Restore Democ4 racy Resolution’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 It is the purpose of this resolution to express the 

3 sense of the House of Representatives that Congress 

4 should— 

5 (1) confirm that money is not free speech by 

6 making clear that corporations are not people for 

7 purposes of the First Amendment right to make 

8 campaign contributions; 

9 (2) clarify its power to set limits on the amount 

10 of money that can be spent on a campaign for elec11 tion for Federal office; 

12 (3) clarify its power to provide for the public fi13 nancing of elections; 

14 (4) limit the campaign advertising season to 60 

15 days before an election and prohibit candidates from 

16 soliciting or collecting campaign contributions during 

17 legislative sessions; 

18 (5) protect the constitutional right to vote by 

19 expanding online voter registration systems; 

20 (6) emphasize the need for compact, contiguous 

21 Congressional districts that are not gerrymandered 

22 to favor an incumbent or political party; and 

23 (7) restore regular order in the legislative proc24 ess by requiring bills to go through committee con25 sideration and come to the floor under an open rule. 

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1 TITLE I—OVERTURNING CITI2 ZENS UNITED DECISION AND 

3 CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP 

4 SEC. 101. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO OVERTURN 

5 CITIZENS UNITED DECISION AND COR6 PORATE CITIZENSHIP FOR PURPOSES OF PO7 LITICAL ACTIVITY. 

8 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that, 

9 in order to overturn the decision of the Supreme Court 

10 in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commis11 sion (558 U.S. 310), Congress should enact and the States 

12 should ratify a constitutional amendment providing that 

13 any right of a corporation, other business organization, 

14 or other artificial entity to engage in political activity, in15 cluding the making of contributions and expenditures for 

16 the purpose of influencing an election for public office or 

17 a ballot measure, is not derived from the first amendment 

18 but from the laws of the United States and the States, 

19 and may be exercised only to the extent provided by such 

20 laws. 

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1 TITLE II—FULL DISCLOSURE 

2 AND REDUCING THE INFLU3 ENCE OF MONEY IN POLITICS 

4 SEC. 201. FULL DISCLOSURE AND REDUCING THE INFLU5 ENCE OF MONEY IN POLITICS. 

6 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— 

7 (1) the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elec8 tion Commission (558 U.S. 310) opened the door to 

9 the corrupting influence of money in politics; 

10 (2) in order to restore the American people’s 

11 faith in the integrity of their elected government, 

12 Congress should have the power to regulate the rais13 ing and spending of money and in-kind equivalents 

14 with respect to Federal elections, including through 

15 regulating— 

16 (A) the amount of contributions to can17 didates for nomination or election to Federal of18 fice, 

19 (B) the amount of expenditures that may 

20 be made by, in support of, or in opposition to 

21 such candidates, and 

22 (C) the content and integrity of such ex23 penditures; and 

24 (3) all political contributions should be publicly 

25 disclosed, including those made to or by independent 

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1 groups, so that voters have complete information 

2 about who is paying for political advertisements. 

3 TITLE III—PROVIDING FOR 

4 SMALL DONOR AND PUBLIC 

5 FINANCING OF ELECTIONS 

6 SEC. 301. PROVIDING FOR SMALL DONOR AND PUBLIC FI7 NANCING OF ELECTIONS. 

8 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that, 

9 in order to eliminate the undue influence of money in poli10 tics— 

11 (1) Congress should create a small donor and 

12 public finance system for Congressional elections, 

13 which will ensure that Congress is responsible to vot14 ers instead of well-financed special interests; and 

15 (2) Members of Congress should devote their 

16 full time to regular order and governing instead of 

17 campaign fundraising. 

18 TITLE IV—LIMITING THE 

19 CAMPAIGN SEASON 

20 SEC. 401. LIMITING THE CAMPAIGN SEASON. 

21 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— 

22 (1) Congress should have the power to imple23 ment and enforce limits on when money can be 

24 spent on campaign activities; 

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1 (2) registered candidates for Congressional elec2 tions should not be allowed to expend campaign 

3 funds on advertising more than 60 days before a pri4 mary or general election; 

5 (3) candidates for Congressional office, both in6 cumbents and challengers, should not be allowed to 

7 solicit or collect campaign contributions during the 

8 hours in which Congress is in session; and 

9 (4) States should create a single Congressional 

10 primary date to increase voter education and partici11 pation. 

12 TITLE V—PROTECTING THE 

13 RIGHT TO VOTE 

14 SEC. 501. PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO VOTE. 

15 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— 

16 (1) Congress has the power to prohibit voter 

17 suppression activities; 

18 (2) in order to increase voter access and partici19 pation, Congress should require every State to create 

20 and maintain an online voter registration system; 

21 and 

22 (3) Congress should make Election Day a legal 

23 public holiday. 

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1 TITLE VI—ELIMINATING PAR2 TISAN REDISTRICTING AND 

3 GERRYMANDERING 

4 SEC. 601. ELIMINATING PARTISAN REDISTRICTING AND 

5 GERRYMANDERING. 

6 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— 

7 (1) Congress should establish a Federal re8 apportionment system that would create compact 

9 and contiguous Congressional districts that, to the 

10 greatest extent possible, follow geographic bound11 aries and county lines; 

12 (2) Congressional districts should not favor or 

13 disfavor an incumbent or political party; 

14 (3) Congressional districts should adhere to the 

15 existing standards of equal population; and 

16 (4) the highest court of each State should have 

17 the power to reject Congressional district maps that 

18 do not meet the above criteria. 

19 TITLE VII—REQUIRING REG20 ULAR ORDER IN HOUSE AND 

21 SENATE 

22 SEC. 701. REQUIRING REGULAR ORDER IN THE HOUSE AND 

23 SENATE. 

24 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— 

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1 (1) it should not be in order to consider a bill 

2 or resolution in the House unless each committee to 

3 which the bill or resolution is referred— 

4 (A) had a hearing on the bill or resolution 

5 at which amendments were permitted to be of6 fered and debated and a vote was taken on each 

7 amendment offered and on final passage, and 

8 (B) filed a report with respect to the bill 

9 or resolution; 

10 (2) a conference report should not be filed in 

11 the House unless— 

12 (A) the conference committee held at least 

13 3 meetings in which all members of the con14 ference committee were allowed to be present, 

15 (B) all items of difference between the 

16 House and Senate were addressed, voted on, 

17 and resolved by the full conference committee 

18 membership, and 

19 (C) printed or electronic copies of the con20 ference report and the accompanying joint ex21 planatory statement were available to Members 

22 and Delegates for at least 48 hours prior to fil23 ing; 

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1 (3) the House and Senate should schedule si2 multaneous 5-day work weeks in Washington and 

3 district work periods; and 

4 (4) every bill brought to committee should be 

5 open to amendment and every bill brought to the 

6 floor of the House for a vote should be considered 

7 under an open rule. 

Æ 

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